


strontium carbonate, barium chloride

by winter_hiems



Category: X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men - All Media Types, X-Men Legacy
Genre: Autistic David Haller, Canon Autistic Character, Canon Disabled Character, Dissociative Identity Disorder, Don't copy to another site, F/M, Fireworks, First Kiss, Fluff, Forehead Touching, Getting Together, Kissing at Midnight, Mental Health Issues, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss, New Years, Romantic Fluff, Touching, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:47:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28459254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/winter_hiems/pseuds/winter_hiems
Summary: David and Ruth celebrate New Year’s Eve.
Relationships: Ruth Aldine/David Haller
Kudos: 8





	strontium carbonate, barium chloride

David was well aware that if anyone walked in on him, they’d think he was being creepy. Even if he didn’t have DID, getting caught standing in the dark library and looking out of the window would probably get him labelled as weird. With everyone in the mansion more than aware of his condition, getting caught like this would probably start a whole bunch of rumours about what the headmaster’s crazy son was doing _this time_. 

Luckily, literally everyone else was standing outside on the lawn waiting for the New Year’s fireworks to start, so if he wanted to stand in the dark like a weirdo then nobody would know, and certainly no-one would notice his absence from the crowd. 

He’d had something of an internal debate about whether or not to stay up for New Year’s. Strictly speaking he didn’t need to sleep – his body was more than capable of producing its own energy – but keeping himself awake needlessly could have unpleasant side effects on his mental health. In the end he decided that he might as well stay up. The fireworks would keep him awake if he tried to sleep, so he might as well lose a couple hours rest doing something other than lying in bed. 

Besides, several of his alters wanted to see the fireworks; Suzie in Sunshine wanted to watch them because fireworks were pretty, Cyndi wanted to watch because fireworks involved fire, and Max was always up for anything that included an explosion. 

_“I’m bored,”_ said Cyndi. 

_“It’s starting in like five minutes. Show some patience, you bloody pyromaniac,”_ David shot back. 

“Um, hi?” 

David whirled around. That was the danger of getting caught up in his own head; he hadn’t sensed anyone approaching. 

“Ruth?” Great. She’d just found him standing in the dark like a creep. 

She was dressed for the cold, though she’d unzipped her coat in the warmth of the house. A pair of gloves poked out of one pocket. 

“I – yes – I realised you weren’t outside with the others, sorry, so I just wanted to check on you. That you were okay.” She sounded almost embarrassed. 

“Right.” Ruth was the sort of person who he knew, but didn’t know well. At the very least, she’d never been judgy about his mental illness. “Well, I’m fine. Dad knows I’m up here. It’s just that loud noises can mess me up sometimes, so I thought I’d stay in the house and watch the fireworks through the window, and I can see pretty well in the dark, so I didn’t bother with turning the lights on. I’m not having an episode right now. Really, I’m fine.” He shot her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. 

“Okay.” A pause. “Do you – please, no – mind if I stay? Midnight is really soon, yes, and I don’t want to spend the countdown in a corridor or something.” 

“Sure.” He half-expected her to go stand near one of the other library windows, but she went to stand next to him, so he moved up a little to make room for her at the window. 

They stood silently side by side, looking out at the crowded lawn below them. 

The gathered students and staff of the Xavier Institute began the countdown from ten, their shouts muffled by the glass. 

Neither David nor Ruth joined in. Suddenly the silence in the library felt like something precious, as if breaking it would be some kind of transgression. 

When the count reached zero, Ruth Aldine stretched up to kiss him. 

It took a few seconds for what was happening to fully register, but his body responded automatically, so by the time David’s brain caught up, he was kissing her back. 

Her fingers slid into his hair, and after a moment he put his hand on her waist, bunching the fabric of her sweater. 

After a time, and slightly out of breath, they rested their foreheads against each other as colours burst on the other side of the window, the sound of the fireworks muted by the glass. 

“You came looking for me?” David asked. “You came looking for me for New Year’s.” 

Ruth smiled a little shyly and shrugged. “I – I was going to have asking you out, thank you, yes – as my New Year’s resolution. Then I realised that I didn’t want to wait, but you weren’t out with the others, and then…” 

David grinned. “Yeah, I think I know what happened after that.” He glanced out at the firework display that was still in full flow above the mansion’s gardens, then back at Ruth. “New Year’s resolutions… be a good boyfriend, I guess.”

**Author's Note:**

> I got the idea for this fic at approximately 7am today as I lay in bed after waking up. I realised that I wanted to post it today, so I’d have to write, edit, and post the whole thing in a day, so here it is.
> 
> David is staying away from loud noises because he’s autistic.
> 
> I had some feelings about the fact that David thought no-one would miss him from the firework display, only to discover that Ruth noticed his absence and went looking for him.
> 
> Strontium carbonate is used in fireworks to make a red colour. Barium chloride makes green.
> 
> Comments and kudos are always welcome <3
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own the characters. I am not making money from this work.


End file.
